Angels Fly
by fiesa
Summary: The psychiatrist can think what she wants and can send her reports to the CSM. They don't care. What they feel right now is nothing an outsider can understand. One Shot.


_**Warning! **__Character-death – I´m sorry. ^^° It´s the first time I´ve ever killed one of my favorite characters. I wanted a story matching the lyrics of Reamonn - Angels Fly. It might have been written especially for Max - I think it suits her. Or at least it might suit her when she´s a bit older.  
_

_Set: In the future, some ten years after the last book. No spoilers – and no Dylan, because I hadn´t read "Fang" yet when I wrote this one. _

_Disclaimer: I don´t own Maximum Ride and the flock. Though, even if I did, I wouldn´t know what I would change, because – did I mention it already? – The books are awesome…_

_PS: Okay, after reading Book Six I know what I definitely would change. Or I could just blackmail James Patterson into writing a seventh novel… Or something like that…_

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Angels Fly

She was a mutant, a girl created in a lab, a test-tube-baby.

Ninety-eight percent human, two percent avian. She had been created for a purpose – to be the sole survivor and mother of a new race as soon as the world was purged of all the weak, pollution human beings – and had lived up to the expectations, even if she had tended to bend these expectations into her own direction. For example: Instead of leading the world´s population into extinction, she had helped to save them. Once, twice – again and again. From the child who lived in a dog crate to the girl who had led her flock and saved the world she had gone to a woman who still fought for everything she believed in. She had fought Erasers, another mutant species grafted only for the purpose of finding and killing her, robots, humans and mutants, big corporations and entire countries. She had been the last hope of the world and she had refused to take up this expectations. Instead, she had exceeded them by returning hope to the world again. She had cared for her flock and for her non-winged family more than for herself. Even after they had all grown up – something she found most disturbing herself – she didn´t cease to worry about and care for them. They had known and fought so many grown-ups during their childhood – and now they were becoming _one of them_? All she could do was remember the ways she hadn´t wanted to be when she was a girl – and she managed to avoid such issues pretty well, everyone agreed. She didn´t change – at twenty-five, she still was the same as with fifteen. She had brown hair, brown eyes, a no-nonsense look in her eyes and determination in her features.

Her genetically enhanced body was tall, muscled and lean. And still, the most extraordinary features of hers were her wings.

She had wings. And yes, she was able to fly. So there was no way a fall from three hundred meters of raw, edged cliffs could kill her.

And she had gills, too, so drowning was out of question, even if the ocean at the bottom of the cliffs was deep and cold and slapped against the rocks with bone-crushing force.

But not even Maximum Ride could survive when hit by a dozen or so bullets, aimed at her directly.

*

_~***~_

_She saw the world trough her smile_

_When she held your hand, you´d knew it would be alright_

_She spoke of places she´d never been_

_Now is the time, she´d say, to live the dream_

_~***~_

_*  
_

Ella is staring at her feet. A fairly normal person – and definitely the most normal one of them all. She seems boring. The only interesting fact in her life is the fact that she is hanging out with six – correction, five – flying mutant freaks.

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Just say something."

"Max… She always was strong. She was a great sister, even though I didn´t see her much. When our Mum was kidnapped, Max saved her, and she saved the world, too. She never went to school, but she was an ace when it came to surviving and fighting. She loved home-made chocolate-chip-cookies. She never broke a promise. She never stayed anywhere for long."

"Where had she already been?"

"Like, all the world. But there was a place she was still looking for…"

"What place was that?"

Ella is smiling. "An island, she said. I don´t know what she meant, but she said she was looking for an island."

"Do you miss her?"

"Her body hasn´t been found yet. I´m not giving up on her."

"But…"

"And I don´t want to hear anything else."

*

~***~

_And she told us how she could fly_

_And she said no need for Good Bye_

_For we´d see her there in the sky_

_Where Angels fly, Angels fly_

_~***~_

_*  
_

"Do you know what Maximum meant when she said she was looking for an island?"

Angel looks genuinely surprised. She has to be almost twenty now, but she looks like fourteen. Her blond curls fall over her delicate shoulders – an angel indeed. Probably she´s the worst one of them. People like her take advantage of anyone else.

"Of course. Don´t you?"

"No. I never met her."

"She wouldn´t have liked you, probably. Oh, no offence intended, but Max… She didn´t like scientists much."

"I´m not a scientist. I´m a psychiatrist."

"She wouldn´t have made a difference. She was pretty set in her opinion, if you know what I mean. Yes, of course you do. And no, I´m not being rude. I´m just telling the truth."

"I see what they meant when they said you were special."

"Exactly."

"Don´t you miss Maximum?"

"Her name´s _Max._ And why should I miss her? She´s still there. No, I´m not in denial, or however you want to call it. She´s still there. You just can´t see her. She promised to always be there for us, and she is. Oh, God. You don´t have to believe me. It´s always all about Max, Max here, Max there, Max everywhere."

*

_~***~_

_She stayed a while that summers day_

_And spoke through her smile of how she´d go away_

_I saw in her eyes her pain_

_She took my hand and said it´d be okay_

_~***~_

_*  
_

"Was her death surprising?"

"Max´ death? Hell, no. We always knew we were going to die one day. We came with an expiration date, after all."

"And yet she died before you did – and a violent death, too. Does that scare you?"

Iggy leans back in his chair. His blind eyes are unfocussed, but his figure is relaxed. He has to be twenty-five now. His blond hair is messed up, but his features are handsome. He sure has a lot of fan girls somewhere out there. Probably he enjoys being popular. A blind lady-killer.

"Why should it? Max would´ve hated to grow old slowly, to lose her sight and to be unable to continue flying. She died the way she lived – fighting for those who couldn´t protect themselves. I bet she´s proud of herself, wherever she is now."

"So you do believe in an afterlife?"

"Does it matter if I tell you I believe there is a world where the blind can see and the deaf can hear?"

"I specify: Do you want to be able to see her again one day?"

"Bad choice of words, Doc. I´m the blind one, remember?"

"You´re avoiding my question. I rephrase, once again. Do you miss Maximum Ride?"

"Her name´s Max. And would you miss your sister if she died suddenly?"

"Of course I would."

"Has your sister taken care of you always, saved you like a dozen times, thrown herself into fights unlikely to win because you were in danger, helped you whenever she thought you wouldn´t notice? Has your sister ever gone through hell to keep you alive?"

"Well… No."

"Then let me tell you: You know nothing."

*

~***~

_Now she´s soaring up to the sky_

_And she takes us all in her flight_

_And she told us the reasons why_

_Angels fly, Angels fly_

_~***~_

_*  
_

"That´s an interesting name you have. Did you choose it by yourself?"

The Gasman nods enthusiastically. He´s maybe twenty-two, no one can tell, and his blue eyes shine with sincerity. His entire behavior, though, distinguishes him as a trouble-maker. He never grew up properly, probably, and has no sense of depth and perception. The only thing mattering to him is his own entertainment.

"Yeah. Max let us all choose our names when we were old enough, along with our birthdays. Fang chose a cool name, too. Nudge wanted to change hers when she turned twelve, but…"

"She cared for you, didn´t she."

"Who?"

"Max."

"Yeah. Max always was our leader. We probably wouldn´t have lasted long without her."

"Yet you chose to go with Fang when you split up the one time."

"Yes, I did. You know… Max just can´t cook. It´s important to always have a good food supply, especially when you´re still growing."

"I thought you split up because Fang and Max weren´t of the same opinion?"

"Oh, _please._ Max and Fang _always_ have the same opinion. It was the food, I tell you."

"What do you feel, now that she´s gone?"

"I don´t know? Is it important?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well…"

"Yes?"

"I guess it´s quite sad."

"Quite sad?"

"Yeah. She was improving a lot, you know. Her meals turned out to be quite good for the past few years. I guess she was practicing with her Mom."

*

~***~

_Some summer days, I can see her smile_

_In so many ways she´s still alive_

_The love that she gave, I keep down inside_

_Keeping it safe ´til I learn to fly_

_~***~_

_*  
_

"Do you think they´re too bright? I mean, I think she would have liked the color – everyone is dressed in black but I know she always hated black, except when Fang wears it, of course. She liked red. I know because when I showed her these shoes, she actually said they weren´t bad. I always knew she had a good taste down there under her rough shell… A bit of a romantic, she was, too…"

"You´re talking about Max, aren´t you?"

"Yes, of course! That´s why you asked me to come here, isn´t it?"

The constant chatter that leaves Nudge´s lips is cute, as long as one doesn´t see the grown-up woman behind those words. Her brown locks are carefully arranged, her black dress is tasteful and fashionable.

"How do you feel?"

"Oh my god, I miss her so much! I mean, of course she isn´t really _gone_, you know, but it still feels like that. And it´ll probably be a while till I see her again. She always took care of us, and she agreed when I wanted to leave the flock because she knew it was what I wanted, and whenever we were in trouble, she´d come to save us… No way some guys with guns could kill her!"

"She was hit by multiple bullets from a close distance. Her body fell from a cliff. She isn´t found jet, but she´s missing for four months now and we´ll have to accept she´s dead, Nudge."

"I know."

She actually starts crying. The one and only normal response. The psychiatrist doesn´t know whether to be glad or frustrated.

*

~***~

_And she´s soaring up through the sky_

_And she takes us all in her flight_

_And I feel she´s still alive_

_Where Angels fly, Angels fly_

_~***~_

_*  
_

"Your… siblings seem to believe Max isn´t dead."

No answer.

"It´s four months since she went missing. With her wounds, she can´t possibly have survived. You know that."

"Yes."

"And you know that it´s just a matter of time until you have to start believing it, too."

No answer. The man dressed in black hasn´t even bothered to sit down. He´s standing at the window, not looking at her, his black, long hair bound in a pony-tail, his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"You loved her. Of course you don´t want to believe she´s dead."

"What I feel for her is none of your business."

"It´s my business to…"

"To what? Fix me? Sorry, Lady, but you don't get it. You can´t fix me. Nobody can. Nobody can fix something that isn´t broken and doesn´t want to be fixed."

"So her death hasn´t affected you at all?"

Again, silence answers.

"You want to tell me you don´t refuse to let anyone enter her room because she might come back soon? You don´t turn around on the street because you think you saw her? You don´t wake up screaming her name?"

No answer.

No answer.

Silence expands, long and longer.

"Are we finished?"

"No. But that won´t stop you, I guess."

"Wow. You should try fortune-telling."

*

~***~

_And she told us how she can fly_

_And she said no need for Good Bye_

_For we´d see her there in the sky_

_Where Angels fly, Angels fly,_

_Angels fly, my sweet Angel flies_

_~***~_

_*  
_

_Denial_, says the report. _Impertinent characters, still behaving like children because no one taught them how to grow up. They´re overly attached to the deceased, still regard her as a given factor in their lives. They refuse to refer to her as Maximum but call her Max instead, which shows they´ve been majorly affected by her. They mostly refuse to talk about their own feelings and regard anyone asking as an intruder. Even Ella Martinez is integrated into the thing they call _flock_. They´re too confident, refusing to see reason when there´s something they believe in. As a unit, they can still be used for our cause. I advise not to separate them at any time. One day, they´ll have to face reality: Maximum Ride is dead._

_~***~_

_*  
_

The truth is hard and death isn´t something you can undo.

Neither Ella nor Angel nor Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge nor Fang have yet grasped the entire implications of the words "Max is dead". The psychiatrist can think what she wants and can send her reports to the CSM. Whether she thinks they´re all cold-hearted bastards, playboys without a single care in life, whiny girls or senseless idiots – they don´t care. What they feel right now is nothing an outsider can understand – even Ella doesn´t get most of it, even though she and Iggy have been together for six years now and she´s almost like another sister to the rest of them. Max has taught them well – they know how to get rid of intruders quickly and for good. Max has taught them everything. Max has saved them a million times. Max has held them, Max has comforted them, Max has understood them, Max has shouted at them, Max has loved them.

Max is dead.

She´ll never come back.

The extended though shrunk flock hustles together, clings to each other like a drowning person to a piece of floating debris. The girls are in the middle – Angel, Nudge, Ella – Nudge is crying, and Ella and Angel have tears in their eyes. The boys complete the circle. Gazzy´s eyes are wet, too, Iggy´s are closed, Fang´s face is like stone. It´s one great flock hug – they share grief and sadness and hopelessness. But there´s no comfort in it, because the person who has comforted them all their lives isn´t there anymore. Maybe, there will be something like that again, in the future, but now it´s just grief and fear. They cling to each other because that´s what Max taught them: Even if the world ends – and it just has done that – there still is the flock. They still have each other.

Meanwhile, the world keeps turning.

They ignore it.

*

*

*

_For we´d see her there in the sky_

_Where Angels fly_

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_Umm. So before you start your assaults and death treats and letter bombs, I´d like to point out that the stuff about the flock - Iggy being a playboy, Angel being a devil (haha) and so on is the psychatrist´s opinion, not mine! Though she should know better, but we all know the flock is pretty good in getting rid of unwanted characters. _

_And... It´s just a future fic. And my run-over-board imagination. And maybe someone liked it despite... the obvious. So... Reviews are love..._


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